Contrary to a rumour that's been circulating about the Bolshoi dancing both at Covent Garden and at the Coliseum next summer, I have been told by a member of the Bolshoi staff that they will be appearing at the Coliseum only next July.

Far too early to say what ballets they are likely to bring, but La Bayadere and The Bright Stream look very likely to be included in the rep.

Ballet and politics intertwinedby ISMENE BROWN for the Daily Telegraphpublished: January 27, 2007

For all the noise made over the British National Party membership of English National Ballet dancer Simone Clarke, ballet and politics have always been intimates. And no one exemplifies that more vividly than the supreme Soviet choreographer Yuri Grigorovich, whose 80th birthday is marked by a Royal Opera House gala tomorrow.

It's pretty much as I was told back in October with Le Corsaire in a new version by Ratmansky being the main attraction this time around.

Other highlights will be Carlos Acosta appearing as Spartacus and Christopher Wheeldon's first work for the company.

I must admit to some disappointment that Massine's Les Presage has been dropped in favour of In the Upper Room, a work of very negligible merit in my opinion.

The new Bolshoi wonder boy, Ivan Vasiliev, isn't listed as appearing, which I sincerely hope is an oversight on someone's part. Galina Stepanenko's name is missing too. She was considered the definitive Medora by her peers in the company when she appeared in the wonderful but short-lived production of Le Corsaire by Konstantine Sergeyev and I can confirm that she was magnificent in the role. Surely she must be cast in the part in Moscow? How very sad that she is consistently overlooked.

Casting details are not yet available, but I'm pretty sure they will appear before public booking opens on the 26th of this month.

Just a word of warning for those of you intending to see the Bolshoi at the Coliseum this summer.

The Duke of York's Theatre, almost opposite the Coli, is currently previewing a production of David Storey's 'In Celebration' The play opens on the 15th and is booking through to September, the star of the show is Orlando Bloom and on Friday night around 10pm he halted the traffic in St Martin's Lane, when hordes of screaming woman blocked the road. Despite frantic motorists sounding their horns, the ladies didn't budge. It was bedlam. Hopefully the respective performances will empty out at different times and perhaps as the run of the show progresses there will be fewer fans waiting, then again maybe not.

If the fans comtinue to show up in similar numbers, patrons leaving the coliseum would do well to leave by the May Court Exit and avoid St Martin's Lane. I wonder how well the coliseum is sound-proofed?

Last edited by Cassandra on Fri Jul 09, 2010 10:12 am, edited 1 time in total.

The Bolshoi opened in London last night with the new production of Le Corsaire. Speaking to other ballet goers, their reactions were mixed and I got the impression that many were surprised that it didn’t in any way resemble the Kirov Vinogradov version.

It was a premier attended by some famous faces and sitting near me in the stalls were Prince Michael of Kent, Raine Spencer and Margaret Thatcher, rather inexplicably the latter received a degree of applause from some members of the audience. As the chap sitting next to me commented “Why? She never did anything for the arts”. Quite. More distinguished audience members (in my view) included some Royal Ballet principals, the Kirov’s Leonid Sarafanov and the great Russian baritone Sergei Leiferkus.

Rather muted applause for the first night with Osipova’s odalisque solo and the spectacular ship-wreck gaining the most applause. I shall be writing about the production in full when I’ve seen the other casts, Alexandrova and Tsiskaridze tonight and Lunkina and Filin tomorrow.

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